Northrop A-5 Vigilante

Good info.

What was equally scary was the fact that the Vigilante was initially designed as a high-speed, deep-penetration {:=), nuclear bomber!

Even more remarkable was the nuclear bomb launch mechanism which used pressurized (air?) to launch the device 'out the back' (through a horizontal tube) with a velocity that exactly matched that of the aircraft - only in reverse! (An early-variant of the A5 even had twin vertical stabilizers to facilitate this process!)

Anyway, in theory (and, according to the "Brown-Shoe Aviators" I talked to, in practice!), this launch sequence caused the bomb to pause mid-air immediately after ejection and, then, fall straight-down to the target!

Apparently, to the Navy at least, this maneuver was preferable to the more-conventional, but extremely high-G, nuclear bomb-toss USAF maneuver that also allowed a "high-speed egress" from the detonation!

BTW, FWIW, having sat in the backseat of one of these beasts, I can attest to the fact that it is, indeed, a claustrophobic nightmare! I can't even begin to imagine the stress of a high-speed/high-altitude nuclear bomb run over a heavily-defended enemy target at night in bad weather!

The A5 Vigilante was the largest plane ever stationed aboard. They were used for photo recon.Following behind an aircraft carrier when A5's being catapulted off the ship was scary and thrilling. They would drop below the flight deck and couldn't be seen (I was on a heavy guided missle cruiser and had a terrific view. You'd see the nose come up, and it was up,up, and away with afterburners blazing.